Collaborating Agents Deliver the Inside Edge

TAN FAQs

Click on the question to see the answer.

I already network with my peers. Why should I join Top Agent Network?

The vast majority of agents who qualify for TAN membership believe in networking with their peers as a way to increase sales and serve clients. But unlike brokerage-specific networking systems, ad-hoc groups or email lists you may have gathered on your own, TAN is “brokerage agnostic” and comprehensively connects you to all verified top 10% agents in your geography regardless of brokerage. The TAN system is immediate, transparent and searchable. This goes well beyond what agents typically achieve on their own and greatly increases your chances of finding a match.

4 out of 5 members report that TAN helped them make additional sales, acquire new clients or impress existing clients. Plus, TAN is for more than just networking. TAN marketing materials and public directory demonstrate your top tier status in listing and buyer presentations; clients love knowing that you are “dialed in”; and you’ll love being able to provide quick, reliable answers to your clients’ questions.

How does a real estate agent qualify for Top Agent Network membership?

Agents must be ranked among the top 10% of agents in their local market based on past 24-month home sales. See our Membership Criteria.

Why do you restrict membership to the top 10%?

First, because the top 10% agents do the “bulk of the business” (typically the top 10% are involved in 9 out of every 10 closed sales in their market). Second, we’ve learned that TAN members thrive when three components are in place:

Optimum number of member agents in the market;

Mutual respect among the agents; and

Volume of high quality information on the network.

The top 10% of agents is where that magic happens. TAN reserves the right to expand membership to 15% in small markets if needed to keep that magic happening.

Isn’t keeping a listing “private” against buyers’ and sellers’ best interests?

TAN’s purpose is not to keep listings “private.” In fact, a cardinal rule of TAN is that all members must follow all your MLS, association and brokerages rules. TAN helps agents and their clients get the most opportunities possible by:

Greatly expanding the number of agents who will learn about upcoming listings in the “pre-marketing” phase;

Providing a powerful way to best price their seller’s listing before it goes on the MLS (something crucial to the seller’s ability to get top dollar); and

Recording all posts in a transparent database, encouraging ethical behavior among agents.

TAN also lets you post motivated buyer needs and ask for local service provider recommendations–critical activities not possible on the MLS.

My listing is going on the MLS next week. Why should I bother to put it on Top Agent Network first?

Lots of reasons. Provided you post several days prior to MLS (we recommend at least 5), by posting on TAN you can:

Alert buyers (through their TAN member agent) who have seen “everything in the neighborhood” to hold off making an offer elsewhere, knowing your listing will be coming on soon.

Make sure the listing is priced correctly as it comes on the MLS (TAN member feedback helps hugely with this).

Maintain the listing’s momentum while you get the photos, staging and landscaping ready.

Show your clients how hard you’re working to promote their listing.

Distinguish yourself from other non-member agents who can’t pre-market clients’ listings on TAN.

Keep listings from getting “stale” on the MLS as you test the price or prepare the property.

Shall we go on?

How much does TAN membership cost?

It costs nothing to try Top Agent Network, and we take no billing information at registration. Free trial lets you experience all member privileges. If after your trial you want to remain a member, just choose your membership plan.

I’m not very computer-savvy. Is TAN hard to use?

Most top agents are social types, not techies, and TAN was designed with top agents in mind. Other than posting and replying, everything happens pretty much automatically.

Posting your motivated buyer need, upcoming listing or question is as simple as writing an email. The posts go out to all members in your chapter via email, and you can reply via email, too. All posts and replies are recorded in the system and can be searched at any time. Weekly Activity and Non-MLS reports are emailed to you automatically.

Once you register, your photo, “about” and contact information are displayed automatically on the public-facing Member Directory. Getting your personalized TAN marketing materials is a snap.

How do I get the most out of my TAN membership?

As soon as you register, upload your profile (photo, contact information, bio and specialties). This makes you visible in our Member Directory. This information also feeds automatically into our customized marketing materials. Use your TAN marketing materials in all your listing and buyer presentations. Ask your peers for help (with pricing, service provider recommendations, client questions)—the answers you get on TAN will make you shine in your clients’ eyes. Turn the administration of TAN over to your assistant if you work with one (there’s a special sub-user function for this). Add “Post on TAN” as a distinct, pre-marketing step in your listings checklist. This will help you remember to use the system as you’re getting up to speed. You’ll realize soon enough how indispensable TAN is!

What if I do my business in a neighborhood that sits on the border of two TAN chapters?

We are developing a cross-market access feature that will make this question a thing of the past. In the meantime, join the chapter where you do the bulk of your business. When you’ve got a listing in the other chapter, contact us and we’ll circulate the listing as a “guest post” for you.

What is TAN’s retention rate?

In our established chapters, 93% of our members renew their memberships. We must be doing something right.

I put an upcoming listing on Top Agent Network and before I could get it actively on the market, another top agent who had been looking specifically in that neighborhood made an offer and poof! It was sold!

TAN lets me make deals in a fashion that suits and respects my clients’ needs. This year alone, I’ve worked with two elderly clients who would have been completely overwhelmed by the staging, open houses and showings typically required in selling a home. I quietly put out the word on TAN and both homes sold quickly, AS IS. It was a win-win for all parties.